Rand Paul aide sought S.C. invite that went to Ted Cruz

Sen. Rand Paul’s chief of staff called South Carolina’s Republican chairman earlier this month to express disappointment that the state party invited freshman sensation Sen. Ted Cruz to speak at its marquee fundraising dinner rather than the Kentuckian.

Doug Stafford, Paul’s top aide, told Chad Connelly, the South Carolina GOP chief, that Paul’s team had hoped to attend high-profile state party dinners in each of the traditional early states this spring, three sources familiar with the call told POLITICO.

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Paul is slated to speak next month at Iowa and New Hampshire Republican party dinners, but he won’t be in Columbia on May 3 when much of the political media will descend on the state capital to cover dueling speeches between Cruz, a Texan, and Vice President Joe Biden, who is keynoting the state Democratic party’s convention dinner.

Even after Cruz was announced as the Silver Elephant Dinner’s headliner, Stafford sought to still secure an invitation for Paul, hoping the Tea Party favorite could play a role in honoring former Sen. Jim DeMint, the new Heritage Foundation president who will be feted by South Carolina Republicans that night.

But Connelly told Stafford that they preferred to have Paul come in for a separate event later in the year. It wasn’t the first time the two had discussed the matter – Stafford lobbied Connelly earlier in the year to have Paul headline an event that always draws a bold-faced Republican name.

Asked about the back-and-forth, Connelly, who’s currently at the Republican National Committee spring meeting in Los Angeles, referred a reporter to the executive director of the South Carolina GOP, Alex Stroman.

“South Carolinians are excited about Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and all the other Republican leaders who are having an impact on the party,” said Stroman. “Hopefully Sen. Paul will come back later this summer. I know he has been in the state before and we look forward to having him back.”

Another South Carolina Republican was blunter.

“They might have gotten a little greedy,” said this GOP operative. “South Carolina is not a place where you can come in and dictate anything.”

In response to an email request to discuss the South Carolina event, Stafford wrote that he couldn’t call but asked that questions be emailed (to an address with the domain, randpaul2016.com).